WhatsApp Download

It seems that WhatsApp is keeping its promises. After the news released a few days ago, when  users were informed that the Facebook-owned company was dropping support to certain operating systems (such as Windows Phone 7.1, Nokia S60 and Blackberry 10) to better focus on other mobile platforms  that the majority of people use, new updates to the app are gradually coming. Obviously the decision has created quite a discontent between WhatsApp users of these older platforms, who have time until the end of the year to switch to other platforms like, for example, Android.

And so today we are going to see the last updated version of WhatsApp for Windows Phone. This latest version 2.12.300, as we said above, further improves some features introduced with the previous update. With version 2.12.278 the grouping for consecutive messages from the same contact had been changed, with the removal of some spaces between them. Now, with this new version 2.12.300 of WhatsApp for Windows Phone, this option has been further enhanced, with the chat bubbles that automatically adapt to the length of the text you are typing.

And the good news is that the update is already available in the stable version. Some changes have been brought also to notifications. After this latest update notifications of messages arrived on your device while the app is closed will be cleared from the Action Centre as soon as you open the app again. You will notice also some changes in the Info page, thanks to some minor restyling.

The toast and Action Centre is now considerably wider, allowing WhatsApp users to immediately read a whole message if it is less than 4 lines. In addition, also the Live Tile has been improved and now, besides showing the missed messages, offers a brief preview. So, what do you think? Are you convinced? If you are interested, you can download this latest version of WhatsApp for Windows Phone from the Windows Store using this link

New interesting updates are available for those of you who use WhatsApp with Android devices. In the last few hours a new beta version has been released and it brings the document sharing support. This new beta version 2.12.493 adds a new documents icon to the paperclip attachments list, and, for the moment, you can add only PDF documents. But it shouldn’t take long before WhatsAppers will be able to attach other documents types.

It is important to know that to use this option both the sender and the recipient must use the same version of WhatsApp. The update includes also the removal of an icon. Beta version 2.12.493 in fact hasn’t got anymore the Video option but just the Photo one. By tapping on it you can choose whether to take a photo or shoot a video. Still easy, isn’t it? So, how can you test this new document sharing option?

First of all you need to have a friend who has upgraded his/her device with the latest 2.12. 493 beta version of WhatsApp for Android. Once you are sure that you can share your document with your contact, you can tap the paperclip and then Document. From here you can select from the list of PDFs on your phone which one you want to share with your contact. You’ll be able to see a preview of the document in the chat and the file will then be stored in a completely new Documents tab, which you’ll find in the Media section in the chat’s overflow menu.

And that’s not all. Beta version 2.12.493 of WhatsApp for Android brings also a new Documents folder, which you can find in WhastsApp Media Folder. From this new folder you’ll be able to check the Documents box located in the Media Auto-Download settings. If this is a great news for WhatsApp users, there are other news not so pleasant.

Recent news report that Diego Dzodan, Facebook Executive, has been arrested in Brazil because WhatsApp didn’t share data with police, and exactly for “ignoring a judicial order” for an investigation. What happened? In Brazil Dzoran is accused of ignoring a judicial order in a secret investigation involving organized crime and drug trafficking.

Immediate reactions are coming from both Facebook and WhatsApp. A Facebook spokesperson told Gizmodo that “We’re disappointed with the extreme and disproportionate measure of having a Facebook executive escorted to a police station in connection with a case involving WhatsApp, which operates separately from Facebook. Facebook has always been and will be available to address any questions Brazilian authorities may have”, while a WhatsApp spokesperson added that “WhatsApp cannot provide information we do not have. We cooperated to the full extent of our ability in this case and while we respect the important job of law enforcement, we strongly disagree with its decision.”

During the past few months, WhatsApp encryption has been long debated by UK Government,  creating controversial reactions in the public opinion. And now the UK Government has introduced a law that requires WhatsApp and iMessage to break their own security, the Independent reports. What’s happening?

A new draft of the Investigatory Powers Bill (or Snooper’s Charter) has been re-written and, despite lot of criticism, it includes a clause that allows  the removal of end-to-end encryption. This kind  of encryption is the technology used by services such as WhatsApp, Facetime and iMessage and that guarantees their users to communicate securely.

The Government assures that this specific clause will be used only where it is ‘practicable‘, adding that the law will only oblige technology companies to weaken a security system that they themselves decided to apply. But that’s not all. In fact the bill also asks that internet companies keep track of everything that their users have looked at for an entire year so to allow the Government to access that information.

Obviously the technology companies have complained and the bill was criticised even by charities like Privacy International, that argues that no real changes had been made to guarantee people’s security. That’s what Gus Hosein, executive director of Privacy International, said: “It would be shameful to even consider this change cosmetic. The Bill published today continues to adhere to the structure and the underlying rationale that underpinned the draft IP Bill, despite the criticism and lengthy list of recommendations from three Parliamentary Committees.”

“The continued inclusion of powers for bulk interception and bulk equipment interference – hacking by any other name – leaves the right to privacy dangerously undermined and the security of our infrastructure at risk. Despite this, the Home Office stands by its claim that the Bill represents “world-leading” legislation. It is truly world-leading, for all the wrong reasons.”

Once again, it seems that there is a thin line dividing what’s right and what’s wrong for our safety. Technology companies seem more inclined to guarantee their users’ privacy (a clear example is what’s happening in America between Apple and FBI), while governments claim the right to access users’ data for public safety reasons.

Is it an end of an era? It seems so. WhatsApp has decided to drop support to certain operating systems including Windows Phone 7.1 and Blackberry 10 and to focus on other mobile platforms the majority of people use. The decision is final, and the Facebook-owned instant messaging app will stop working on the following operating systems by the end of December 2016:

• Android 2.1 and Android 2.2
• Blackberry OS 7 and earlier
• Blackberry 10
• Nokia S40
• Nokia Symbian S60
• Windows Phone 7.1

But if you have one of the latest Blackberry smartphone you don’t have to worry because WhatsApp will still work on it because it runs with Android. But why this unexpected decision and why now? If you have a look to the list above, you’ll notice that these are operating systems no longer installed on new devices (with the exception of Blackberry 10). And that’s why WhatsApp took this important decision.

The company has also given a detailed explanation to its many users trhrough a blog post on its website saying that: “WhatsApp turned seven years old. It has been an amazing journey and in the coming months we’re putting an even greater emphasis on security features and more ways to stay in touch with the people that you care about. But anniversary dates are also an opportunity to look back. When we started WhatsApp in 2009, people’s use of mobile devices looked very different from today. The Apple App Store was only a few months old. About 70 percent of smartphones sold at the time had operating systems offered by BlackBerry and Nokia. Mobile operating systems offered by Google, Apple and Microsoft – which account for 99.5 percent of sales today – were on less than 25 percent of mobile devices sold at the time. As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use.”

Furthermore, the company suggests its users (one billion all over the world) to upgrade to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone before the end of 2016 to continue using WhatsApp.